Thoughts on ethnic and international conflicts and the democratic ideal.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

How Egypt's Brotherhood grabbed power

Many articles have listed complaints about how the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood grabbed power. Yet many Western journalists still cling to the excuse that obstruction by the Army and others left the MB little choice.

In that light the following article is interesting. It shows that the MB power grab happened on all levels and even in the villages. It looks like this was a systematic and well coordinated operation. Probably that is the reason that the MB is no resisting so fiercely against the army takeover. It has little to do with democracy: they know that it is very unlikely that they will get a second chance for their power grab.

Egypt’s Brotherhood loses rural support: ... the Brotherhood’s controlling all squares where prayers are performed. They appeared extremely proud of their power. They stood at the squares’ entrances deciding who the preacher would be, and leading their people however they wanted. Anyone who prayed last year in any village where the Brotherhood controlled the town’s major mosques and youth centers will remember this. The Brotherhood dominated everyone through controlling these centers and mosques. This led to a general state of frustration and fear of the unknown under the Brotherhood’s governance.

Egypt’s Journalists, Still Under Siege tells the story of an Egyptian journalist who is critical of Islamists and the Brotherhood and who has faced harassment from them for decades. It became worse under Morsi but even today it hasn't ended.

About this blog

What makes people support a leader or a government and what makes them associate themselves with a country? These core issues in international relations fascinate me and I am looking for work studying those issues. I studied psychology and anthropology.